Laundry press garment clamp



May 23, 1939. s MARVIN a 2,159,667

LAUNDRY PRESS GARMENT GLAND Filed Aug. 25, 1957 INVENTOR.

STANLEY MARVIN ATTORNEY.

Patented May 23, 1939 air-Em OFFICE LAUNDRYwPRES S GARMENT CLAMP Stanley Marvin, San Francisco, Calif assignor to'B. E. Witk in, Oakland, Calif.

Application August'23, 1937,Serial No. 160,491

6 Claims, (eras-12) a v 'I'his invention re'lates to laundry presses of the type where an upper presser plate or buck is lforced down uponalower buck upon which the #garment to be pressed or ironed is spread, and

the invention has for its general object an improved clamping means for clamping the garment down onthe lower buck. i 1

t y The particular object of the invention isto provide an improved clampfor holding the lower or tail portion of a shirt clamped to the lower uck. Y i

Other advantages of the invention will appear H rfrom the following description and accompanying drawing.

in In the drawing:

(Figure 1 is a side elevation of portion of a laundry press of the kind under consideration showing the rear or tail end of the'lower buck, with my garment-clamp in clamping position, and in dotted lines the unclamped position.

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the device as seen from line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross sectional detail as seen from the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a view similar to that of Figure 3, but showing the clamping band swung to released position.

This apparatus, particularly for clamping the tail part of a shirt, is intended to cooperate with the apparatus of my copending patent applica- [tion filed under Serial No. 126,859, on February 20, 1937, which clamps the neck band of the shirt, the two clamps holding the bosom of the shirt stretched smoothly on, the lower buck for pressing by the upper one.

The invention may be generally described as a clamping strap which extends across the lower buck and is carried at the ends of a pair of arms pivotally mounted in such a manner that the strap can be swung from clamping position upward and backward clear over the tail end of the buck so as to be entirely out of the way inputting on or taking shirts from the buck. A feature of the invention is the provision of a hand crank or lever for operating the clamp so geared to the arms as to swing the band about 180 degrees of are when the hand lever is moved but half this arcuate distance, or less depending on the gearing. Other features are simplicity, ruggedness, and dependability of the construction.

In the drawing l is the lower buck which is gtransversely arched on its upper surface as at l to receive the shirts to be ironed, and is generally 56 covered by suitable cloth or other padding not corrodiblemetal benttothe form shown inFig shown. The buck is supported on the usual frame 2 above a work board or table 3.

The strap of thetail clamping device is "shown at 4 and preferably is a thiniiatv band of nonure"2 so as to'fit over thearched surface of the buck. The band 4 is secured, at its ends respectively, to the ends of two rigid cast metal lever's 5 as by means of clips 6 held in place by screws '1. Arms the normally in horizontal. position along oppositelo-wer edges of the buckand are o'ifsetinwardly at 5' 'to bring their right hand ends closer to the supporting'frame '2, and where they are'formed with downwardly extending split hubsS which are-firmly clamped to the outer ends'of a horizontally extendingshaftll, and

which the hubs are also keyed'or pinnedqas at IG toprevent slipping relative tothe shaft.

'Shaft 9' is rotatably supported in bearing bosses ll formed on the outer sides of a pair of cast bracket plates [2 secured to the buck frame as by bolts 13, and the plates project beyond the rear end of the frame 2 as best shown in Figures '1, 3 and 4 to accommodate the operating mechanism. A pinion gear I4 is secured to shaft 9 and meshes with a large gear l5 carried on a second shaft l6 which also extends through the bracket plates I2 and is rotatably supported in bearing bosses I'l formed thereon, and secured to shaft l6 adjacent the forward bracket plate 30 is a short lever or crank arm l8 slotted at H! and engaging in its slot a pin or roller projecting from the outer end of a similar lever or cam arm 2| secured to a stub shaft 22.

Stub shaft 22 is rotatably mounted in a relatively long hub 23 formed on the forward bracket plate, and secured to the outer end of the stub shaft is an operating crank 24 provided with a handle 25 for swinging the crank from the full line clamping position of Figure 1 about 90 degrees of arc to the dotted or released position indicated.

When in clamping position with band 4 tightly about the upper curved surface of the buck, lever Zlstands at right angles to lever I8 to lock the 45 strap in place under pressure, and to provide adjustment of the locked position of the levers for various thickness of padding used on the buck gear I5 is not secured directly to shaft l6 but is secured by cap screws 26 to a flanged hub 21 50 which latter is firmly secured to the shaft. The cap screws pass through arcuate slots 28 in the flange to permit of any desired angular adjustment to give the pressure required at the locked or clamped position.

By the construction described the levers produce a powerful cam action as they move toward the locked position of Figure 3, and in releasing, lever 2| swings along the slot of lever l8 toward its shaft thus greatly speeding up the releasing movement, and swinging the arms 5 and clamping band through an arc of a half circle, or any further degree with suitable relation of the gearsused.

The device is operated with but little effort on account of the cam'lever effect, and when released the band 4 swings clear beyond the tail end. of the buck and out of the way as indicated by the dotted position of Figure 1.

Having thus described my improved garment clamping device for laundry presses, what I claim is: 1. In a laundry press having a lower buck over which a garment is adapted to be spread for pressing, a clamping band arranged to extend transversely across the buck for clamping the garment on the buck, a pair of arms extending adjacent the sides of the buck and to which arms the endsof the band are secured, means pivotally mounting said arms for swinging the band upwardly from, clamping position and rearwardly clear beyond the end of the buck, a manually operated lever arranged for swinging said arms, speed multiplying gear means operatively connecting said lever and said arms for increasing the motion of the arms relative to the lever, the connection between the gear means and said lever including a crank arm for turning the gear means and a connection from the crank arm to said lever arranged to bring increasing pressure on said crank arm and band as the band is swung to clamping position.

2. In the construction set out in claim 1, a cam operated by said lever, and said cam in turn operating against said crank arm toturn the same and arranged to lock same with the band in clamping position.

3. In the construction set out in claim 1, a cam operated by said lever, and said cam in turn operating against said crank arm to turn the same and arranged to lock same with the band in clamping position, and means for adjusting the effective relation of said cam to said band.

4. In combination with the lower buck of a laundry press, apair of bearing brackets firmly mounted below the buck, a pair of spaced shafts extending transversely under the buck and r0- tatably supported in said bracket, gears on said shafts gearing them together, a pair of arms secured to the outer ends of'one of said shafts and extending along opposite edges of the buck, a shirt tail clamping band extending across the upper side of the buck with its ends secured respectively to said arms, an operating crank shaft rotatably supported adjacent the'other of said shafts, and a slotted lever secured to the latter shaft engaged in its slot by a crank pin of the crank shaft, said slotted lever and crank pin arranged to bring a gradually increasing force upon the band as it is swung to clamping position by a force applied to the operating crank shaft.

5. In the construction specified in claim 4, means for adjusting the rotative relation of the arm carrying shaft to the slotted lever carrying shaft.

6. In the construction specified in claim 4, means for adjusting the rotative relation of the arm carrying shaft to the slotted lever carrying shaft, comprising a flanged hub secured to the latter shaft and to which the gear on said shaft is secured for rotative adjustment.

STANLEY MARVIN. 

